I had not played an online game since 2024, when, after months of being addicted to the point of paying to play, I simply stopped. While yes, this is not a positive sign, I also stuck to playing a puzzle game that is impossible to pay for, and it merely came with the phone. Because I refuse to pay for a phone game again, I was bombarded with advertisements, something that most people are highly aware of, and I noticed something about all the games: they are all versions of capitalism and war, with very little exception.
First, every game had some element of money involved, making it really a game of workers building up monopolies of their businesses in places where there was little competition. Someone might say that money is a concept that everyone is familiar with, but I disagree. The point is not that money exists, but that people are constantly making more in these games, expanding their economic empires and exploiting everyone around them. There are no breaks for the workers or even the business owners; just a constant grind for an ever-present need to expand.
Also, there is extensive environmental degradation that people rarely consider as they watch these games, a signal that the cost of earning money is environmental degradation. That destruction is normalized, and players are desensitized to the effect that their efforts place on the land around them. Instead of learning about moderation and environmental engagement, most of these games focus on constant expansion without the responsibility of managing consequences. Seeing how people roll their eyes at planetary consequences, the effects of that messaging is clear.
Finally, the majority of these games are centered not just on expansion, but war as a necessary machine in the project of expansion. Whether war against nature or against other people, there is a constant pressure to create violence against others whose sole crime was existing in a purpose other than the main player. This is another tactic that has led to the normalization of malice and disrespect towards others, as if everyone else is merely “in the way” of someone else’s story, not other human beings worthy of existence.
Yes, these are all merely games and they only become relevant if one decides to play them. However, consider what the obsession with money, the disinterest in protecting the environment, and the violence against others for a person agenda have done for society. An essayist once said that “Mean is the new ‘cool,'” and that says more about who we have become than we are willing to admit. Subconscious messaging is not innocent, and it becomes a problem when people
Chasing A Dying Empire 